Lost

[Ixzo]

24th of Fall, 518AV

The early morning dew was beginning to seep into her paws, wetting the tufts of fur between her toes, and offering her some fresh alertness. The sun was not yet rising, and the lioness found herself yawning more often than she pleased. It was only with this fresh chill in her paws that she realized they were sore. The lion knew she was not an animal made for fast treks, but she had at least thought her endurance would hold out. Then again, the hunter had never walked this far nor this long in this form. She had been travelling for over a year. She had known that seasons had passed, she counted herself on her second fall, and she knew that it would be dangerous to attempt another winter. Not only was she on her own in the vast wilderness, she had been injured in the beginning of the summer.

Even now the lioness rolled her shoulder with a step, feeling the twang of soreness which told her not to do that. She had found herself back in Kenash, The Paille family had claimed her easy enough with the ugly scar that rested on her face. They seemed to have forgotten that this Kelvic was not a child anymore. She had grown to understand the human culture better during her time with the Drykas, and she had also honed some fairly deadly skills. It had taken her a few seasons, but the Lioness would not be in chains again, and had bore her time in the slave city patiently, until the opportunity rose to escape. And the opportunity had come in the form of a Zith attack. She had been a field worker on the outer edge, and thus was naturally the first to be attacked. The slave masters has summoned their mercenaries to come and defend their property, land and living alike, but no one had counted on Ixzo’s own fighting skill. She didn’t hope to defend herself against a horde of Zith, no. She wasn’t stupid. But it didn’t stop her from running straight into that fight, taking only one down before disappearing into the wilderness.

The steel enforced leather remained around her neck, but Ixzo had also a better plan for this than the last time. The last time the Paille had merely given her a thick leather collar, which she had to rip and tear off herself, this time they had learned, but so had she. She stayed on the skirts of the property, watching, waiting, until the slave masters relaxed again. She hadn’t known if they were looking for her or if they were on guard for the Zith, but within a few days of watching she realized that they thought she was dead. Three slaves had been slain, and four others had been taken with the Zith retreated, only the Paille had counted her among those four that had been stolen.

[Ixzo]

So she waited, patiently, not for revenge, but for another opportunity, the Paille had a hired free blacksmith. She was not as foolish as to think she could ask the free human for help, he was paid well and so was loyal. But she did know how he made the collars, and that he had clamps which could break them, if she did it right.

The hunter had used her knowledge of the kill, and the stealth that had required, in order to wait until she knew the the blacksmith’s schedule, she knew when he would be away. She could not hope to break in while he slept, but he had to eat, he had to relieve himself, and that was all she needed. But the huntress was injured, and so she waited longer than she perhaps needed to, holding out for nearly a moon before making her move. The first time, she entered the smithy while the man was away, but could not break the collar with the clamps. The second time, she could not find the clamps, they had been moved. But the third time, the iron was weak enough to allow her to break it.

She had always been a rash child, and she remembered the urge to deliver her collar to the front steps of the mansion, but the Kelvic was older now, wiser and not so stupid. And so she discarded it in the depths of the swamp, and left immediately. If she had drawn attention to her escape, no matter how much it would have satisfied her to do so, they would be on her tail.

The lion knew she could handle the plains fairly well, better than most. Not only because her time with the Drykas taught her many things, but also because her animal was literally built for this environment. Under the cover of night, she was very attuned to the plains. But she was also not stupid. Her kind were meant to travel in packs, and even they knew they were not the largest predators out there, not in comparison to the glass beaks. Nor was she the smartest when it came to Zith. But she was capable.

And so the lion stayed to the human path, a few hundred meters off, but still insight of it. She would try to follow a caravan if she could, but she moved much faster than the lumbering procession. It didn’t stop her from benefitting off of their unprotected stores while they rested though. Their guards were watching for attackers, not loan thieves in the night.

It took nearly the whole summer, but as the nights began to cool, she found her way into the hills, and then into the trees. Although the Kelvic had never received proper education, she had seen a trader’s map many times before, and could be quite certain that she was in the Sylira region now.

It had been nearly a moon since she took cover in the trees, and her injuries had almost completely healed. She has seen less caravans which told her the autumn was nearer, but the lioness had also seen patrols of some soldiers from some city she did not know, but could tell she did not want to go to. The Myrian-raised Kelvic had heard of the cities who value male fighters and not women, and clad themselves in iron to run head on into the enemy… just like a man. She did not want to go there.

[Ixzo]

The sun was peaking over the horizon now and the lioness could not take it anymore. She glanced to her left, making sure she could still see the flat, somewhat less vegetated land, which counted as a trail, and then began looking for a tree. She was beginning to understand this strange forest, and know which trees where better. The thin ones could not hold the sleeping lion, but the thick ones where usually too short. Being too close to the ground made her uncomfortable. She was recovering from her injuries, but she didn’t like taking chances if she could help it.

Once the sun had cleared the tree line, she found one tree that would work. A large hard wood with sprawling roots that dipped above the ground here and there. There were some lower branches, but it was also ancient and higher branches looked sturdy enough to hold her. The lioness saw some tunneling at the base of the tree, and wondered if it was a badger hole. Not that she couldn’t take a badger, but it wasn’t her favorite meal.

Circling the tree from afar, she watched the ground for tracks she recognized. A few deer, of course. Some of the weird eastern lemurs with bands on their tails, a fox which hunted some quail, and female hog, and a large herbivore whose hoof print and smell she did not recognize, but had come across often in the woods this far. Nothing unusual, and no badger as far as she could tell. But the lioness remained hungry and so she sniffed closer to the deer trail to see how fresh they were. She could see a nest in the shrubbery where they had stayed during the coldest parts of the night, however it was easily bells ago and they would be long gone by now. She didn’t find the small herbivores filling enough to track them far.

What was recent was the fox and the hog. The fox would be too small and slippery. Perhaps easier if it had just eaten the quail, but the lioness only ate every few days, and went she did, she wanted something big. Hog it was, and that had passed recently enough that dew had yet to form in its hoof prints. The human segment of her brain was grateful it was female, since the males smelled terrible. As a lion she didn’t mind the musky scent and taste of their meat, they were fatty, muscular, and had thick bones that she enjoyed ripping. But as a human, she recognized a male Hog in the winter would make terrible meat, hard to cook, tough, and wouldn’t taste nearly as flavorful as the other meats the Drykas had cooked.

[Ixzo]

I suppose it is lucky I remain a lion right now. She thought to herself, perking her hears to the sky to listen for the things around her, paying attention to any shuffling, running, or snorting that sounded hog-ish. The lioness let her mouth hang to taste the air around her. She could tell that the hog was headed directly north, although she did not know for what. The stale scents did not register with her as much, and the lioness still had trouble completely understanding the nature of these forest creatures, but she was still a good hunter. In all her time tracking and watching creatures, she knew that herbivores generally did not roam alone. Even the massive hog, which was a force to be reckoned with on its own, was fairly social creatures. They did not travel in packs, but their territories brushed up on one another often. And yet the lioness neither smelled nor saw signs of any other hog nearby.

Within a few chimes she found the true trail of this hog, and realized she was closer than she thought. Slowing from her eager trot to a more controlled crawl, she watched the area around her carefully. The scent began to mix with that of a male hog, also fresh, and the lioness realized she was not wrong about the hog’s nature, simply too eager. The lioness slowed more, falling into a more protective stance. She could take on either alone, even the male, but the hunter didn’t risk taking them on together, not without a ranged weapon. And in that instant the lioness began to itch for a bow.

She was still alert, and while she proceeded with caution, she was gaining on the hog, who was sniffling through the roots of a tree. She saw no sign of the male, but the lioness did not take that as a sign he wasn’t here. She was confident that he hadn’t seen her though, even if she couldn’t see him. The hogs had a very direct approach to danger, and they were easy to evade.

Her shoulder dropped significantly, but her pace did not slow. The lioness was an excellent stealth creature, and rolled her paws as she walked to avoid the kicking up of things in the grass. It was fall, but it was merely the beginning and there were not nearly enough leaves on the ground to alert the hog of her presence.

Even so, the hunter’s attention was split, looking for another creature which might attack her at any moment. And of course, if the male began to charge her, the female most likely would too. The herbivores had strength in numbers, she would give them that.

She was perhaps sixty feet from the pig now, when she saw him. He did not see her, but then again her senses where keener, even in the daylight. A human, or at least a human-looking thing, rested nearly forty feet to her left, trained on the hog. In his hand he had a very rudimentary long bow, which he hadn’t even strung yet. From here she could see that he was still searching for the hog, tracking it, which confused her. Could he not see the thing, sixty feet from him?

Humans.

[Ixzo]

The lioness’ found her attention diverted. Yes, she still had her senses trained on the hog, but she was paying closer attention to this amateur human now. Was he an idiot? His bow as not very good, his tracking wasn’t the best. Even with the dulled senses of a human, he should at least be able to tell he was close, this area of the forest was filled with the smell of the hog, and herself. The idiocy confused her. But she was smarter than to attempt to shoot out for the hog now and get it first, because the Kelvics knew how humans worked. Young stupid males would get full of themselves and try to shoot her, thinking she was distracted. He would never be able to follow through and actually take her down, she could see from this far away that he was not prepped for that. Frankly, as an archer herself, she didn’t think he was prepared to take the hog down. All his arrows remained in his quiver, which he had put on his back. Of all places! Instead she decided to let him attempt his shot, whenever he realized the hog was there. In the most feline sense, the Kelvic paused midstep, lowering herself into a crouch, and keeping her tail low as it twitched in anticipation. At least the hunter was somewhat quiet, but if he did not pull out at least two more arrows for a rapid fire, or begin to roll his feet, he would not hit this hog.

The lioness glanced back towards the hog, she was ruffling closer to the Kelvic, coming almost in between the lion and the human. Oh boy. But this gave her an excellent opportunity. It is possible the hunter gets a shot into her, and then Ixzo would have a chance to spring. If she was good enough, he would not have the chance to reload before she could clamp her jaw on the hog’s neck. Once the hog was down, she could finish the idiot off next, and take his bow.

Now that she was nearly on the other side of the hog from him, still remaining perfectly still and very alert of the two creatures in front of her, she was getting frustrated with his slowness. If she wanted to, she could leap onto the hog from here, catch it by surprise, and have it dead in two minutes. But no, she was waiting for this idiot.

After a few minutes of hunter and prey aimlessly wandering beside on another, although one was trying very hard to find the other, the human saw her. Not the hog. Not his prey. Her. Idiot.

She narrowed her eyes at him, letting her tail swish once, rustling some leaves behind her. Was he going to shoot? She watched as he slowly aligned the arrow on the bow, while still watching her. Did he think that if he was slow she wouldn’t know what he was doing? Even if she didn’t have the intelligence of a Kelvic, she would know. She could smell his fear and anticipation, it grew in the air, clouding her nostrils, and triggering her hunter’s instincts. She was beginning to realize he couldn’t see her face, he must think she couldn’t see him as well. The lioness raised herself into a slightly more prepared crouch, laying her ears back and pulling back her whiskers to warn him. She didn’t want to make a noise, because the hog in between them was still oblivious. She was twenty feet from the hog, and the hog was twenty feet from him, and yet he saw her first. He raised his bow, not heeding her warning, and so Ixzo let the guttural whine loose. It was a low and steady sound which should have reached him, but definitely reached the hog. The thing perked up immediately, turning away from the man with the arrow, which finally caught his attention. She saw his gaze fall to the hog, just when hers did, she now had a bigger problem to worry about.

[Ixzo]

Alone, there was an even chance the female hog would run rather than charge, it is a chance she would have to take. The lioness began creeping forward again, not actually going for the hog, but trying to intimidate it out of charging her. The herbivores skittered in place, which scared the hunter, who took two clumsy steps back, bow still taught. The lioness let out growl now, wishing the hog would leave her alone, and stood up straighter, still walking towards it with purpose.

It seemed to have made up its mind and decided to run from her. Unfortunately the dumb creature did not see the hunter, and turned and bolted in the direction opposite to Ixzo, which was directly into the human. Ixzo gave chase, easily gathering the twenty feet between them. She should have been paying more attention because when she heard the twang of the bow, the Kelvic faltered in her pursuit, hoping it did not reach her. Instead she saw the thing fly past, missing her and the hog completely. She was not paying attention to where it landed, but it did draw her attention from the hog to the human. He was easier prey anyway.

She landed gracefully short of the hog, who took its opportunity to escape into the woods, and then she turned towards the human, tail flicking in anger. He ruined her meal with his stupidity! He couldn’t even find the thing to hit it and make the hunt easier on her. No, he behaved like prey and was more aware of her than of his own prey. Didn’t humans think they were predators? What was wrong with him?

[Ixzo]

Ixzo snarled while he reached behind him for another arrow. He should know by now it is completely impractical to do that. Not waiting for him to string it, she lunged for the human, claws out, knocking him to the ground. The wind flew from his chest, and she immediately clamped down on his throat. It was much smaller than she was used to, and she heard the sharp crack of his collar bone under her massive teeth. Oh well, the placement was off, but it would do. Humans have fragile bones, they are less fun to chew on.

She heard the sheath of his dagger give way, and sprung back from the human, who must have been in shock and fueled by adrenaline, because he sprang to his feet lively, slashing for the lioness. The blood was already pouring down his side, and she evaded his slash easy enough. He turned to try and run, but she bounded forward, swatting him to the ground with her massive paws. She was toying with the thing now, but he had tried to shoot her and then cut her, he deserved it. There wasn’t much meat on his bones anyway, this would be just for fun.

“Help!” He gargled, screaming out. His ability to talk meant she missed entirely, and all the blood that was spurting from his shoulder must not be coming from his neck, she must try again. But the lioness had a clearer head than this human, and perked her ears for a response. On his back, he saw this and when she looked back at him, she recognized confusion. She wanted to laugh at him, but could not in this form. She flicked her tail with pleasure and then stepped onto his leg, digging her claws into his flesh, feeling the satisfying pull of muscle underneath her talons.

“Ah! Rygor! Help me!” He shouted again in between his screams. That is when she heard it, fast running. The running of someone who knew the forest well enough to know when to leap and when to not leap. He was perhaps fifty feet off, and Ixzo was waiting for him. But before she saw him, she heard a whizz of his arrow. The lioness dropped her haunches, crouching over the human who was still crying out and screaming for his partner, and the arrow landed soundly in a tree next to her. He would have missed anyway. She wasn’t taking a chance. Leaving the first man to bleed out, she crawled as stealthily as possible to the nearest to the dark stout tree. Circling it, she flattened herself behind its roots, just to see the other hunter come into the clearing. His bow was excellent, his stand was prepared, and he had three more arrows in his hand prepared.

[Ixzo]

“Rygor! Rygor, it got me!”

“Shut up!” The older man said, bow already taught with another arrow that he had loaded while running, an expert. He spun in a circle, carefully watching the trees around himself, looking for her. She stooped behind the tree, knowing it was thick enough to cover her form. But as a precaution, she pulled the heat into herself, dragging all her senses away from herself and in ticks was pressed against the ground as a human, much smaller and harder to detect. Dirt and leaves clung to her sweaty skin, and she flattened herself to the tree.

“Rygor, help me!” She heard the first hunter crying, and as far as she could hear the other hunter finally agreed to.

“We have to go, I don’t know what that thing was.”

“A demon! A demon! It got me, I can’t stand. Ah-!” Rygor must have tried to drag him in some way because the first hunter screamed out, and the more experienced one covered his mouth with something, likely his hand, muffling his screams. Ixzo used this time to peak around the tree very carefully, watching the two. Rygor leaned over the young hunter, bow and ready-to-load arrow in one hand, and the other covering the young hunter’s mouth.

“Just shut up, will you? I’ll get you back to camp, but you have to be quiet, Gods damn it.” He sternly whispered to the young hunter who whimpered and nodded; still make a lot of noise. But to the huntress’s satisfaction, she could see that his jerking was growing weaker, an enticing sign of death. Rygor immediately went into action, putting his bow down and unfastening his belt. The first thing he did was fashion a tourniquet over her claw mark on this man’s leg. He must have been well experienced because it took him only a few ticks to do so, the young hunter trying to stifle his whimpers while he did so. Then Rygor removed his shirt, pressing it into the young hunter’s shoulder over her bite mark, shushing the boy. He began to glance around him, and Ixzo disappeared behind the tree again. She anticipated that he would continue to look out for her as a lion, so she stayed with her back pressed to the tree, not looking. The noise has scared just about everything off, so she was not worried about the hogs coming back. But he was worried about her coming back, and so would keep looking around him.

[Ixzo]

As she listened she gathered that Rygor was calming the boy down, coaxing him into standing, which he didn’t seem to want to do. She thought he couldn’t, Rygor probably thought he could, the boy was going to die either way.

“Harry, if you can’t stand, I can’t get you back. I’ll have to kill you here and now, do you want that?” Rygor said in a very clear and very stern voice, which confused Ixzo. It was a logical thing to do, that she agreed with, but humans tended to not do the logical thing, letting their emotions get in the way.

“Rygor, no, please, I can stand.”

“Then fucking do it.” The man was frustrated. He had probably picked up his bow at this point and was helping the boy up. She could hear him start to limp, and so she began to look for the next tree to hide behind. They had a camp. If they had a camp that meant they were on a hunting expedition, and would not be too far from a city. A city. With people.

Ixzo almost couldn’t allow herself to hope, but when she glanced around the tree to see their progress, Rygor was helping the boy limp away. He was still focused on making sure the idiot didn’t step on his leg too hard, and so was not paying attention. She took this opportunity to make a dash for the next large hardwood tree. She did so as stealthily as possible, rolling her toes, staying low, and leaping the bushes that would make too much noise. To even an experienced hunter, she would sound not more than a squirrel running from one tree to the next. She did not look to see if he saw her. She could hear him pause slightly and assumed he would turn. He shushed the boy, and she knew she would have to be quieter if she were going to follow them back.

She waited, trying to let her breath relax, listening to them make their way down the trail. She decided she would simply track them back, unwilling to risk them catching her. It wasn’t as I their trail would be hard to miss at this point. Fingering the amulet that hung loosely around her neck, so that it was secure when she was in lion form, Ixzo dragged her energy into her chest, letting her body take on the larger, more capable shape.

[Ixzo]

She panted for a few chimes, allowing herself to rest from the adrenaline of the hunt, before silently stepping out onto the trail. She let her mouth hang to take in the scents, and as she followed the blood line, she realized that these were not the only humans she smelled. She could smell the stale scent of horses and humans with various freshness. Merely a hundred feet down the bloody trail she found herself on an actual foot path, clearly frequented by hunters. It took her wild mind a moment to begin to put two and two together, that these may not be the only two humans around.

Desperation filled her chest, as she thought of the first contact with civilization she was about to meet. What city was it? She knew she was in Sylira, but what city was this? Zeltiva? It wasn’t long before she overtook the couple, and realized that only one remained. Rygor had left this boy in the middle of the trail, and from this distance Ixzo couldn’t even be sure that he was dead yet. The experienced hunter had taken his belt, but left the bloody shirt, and simply left.

Her hunter’s brain had long since rested, and with the new introduction to a human frequented part of the forest, compassion began to fill her. She realized that she had done this. She had maimed this boy, simply because he got in her way. At the time she was not thinking in the human capacity to realize what she had done, but now grief and guilt racked her chest. This was not what she stood for. The intense need to sob filled her, and nearly forced the change on her. In a few seconds she could feel the pain in her chest, as she crumpled on her bare legs in the chilly air, and let her sobs cry out into the empty forest. It was the only sound around under the noon sun. But she did not succumb to the intense grief over this dead child.

Dragging herself to a standing position, Ixzo stumbled the next eighty feet to the boy, letting herself crumple beside him. He was still warm, his eyes had been closed, and when she rested her hand on his chest, she could feel the stillness that told her of an absence of life. She didn’t know this boy, she had killed this boy, but in the moment the Kelvic could not comprehend that she was the one who did this. She had no blame for Rygor to leave him, it seemed the logical thing to do. In her skewed mind, it seemed like a simple fate that one could not help but had every right to cry over.

Wordlessly, and for a reason she did not quite know, Ixzo leaned over the boy, dragging his hands over her shoulder, and then hoisting him up by his hips. Stark naked and tired from a nights worth of travelling, the Kelvic should have been much smarter than to attempt to trek back to the city with a body over her shoulder, but it seemed like the right thing to do. Any lawful people she found would want to bury the boy, wouldn’t they?

Word Count: 4,878